Chapter 106: Time before reinforcements and Casket of Darkness

“Damn it! We don’t have any means to attack flying enemies…?!” 

The Demon Lord is slowly flying in the air while mixing some hovering, so if we had any means to attack it, it would be a nice target. 

Marchosias is a chimera that doesn’t originally fly in the sky, so it is not like it is skilled at flying. 

The explorers that came to help out have somehow managed to recover themselves, and the injured ones have withdrawn to the stairs. The members that can still fight regrouped with Alex and the others. 

The ones with shields will be standing at the front and blocking it when it charges. 

Fire breaths will be blocked with a water shield. 

Once it comes to the ground again, we won’t let it escape.

That’s the only fighting style we can think of. 

However, I think it is really rough to rely on this. 

You could even say this is gradually turning to the worse. The enemy is slowly growing more and more experienced. 

I feel like we will eventually crumble completely. 

Rifreya must be feeling the same, her expression is more serious than anything I have seen before as she looked at the Demon Lord flying. 

It has barely used Fear again, but if it were to spam that, we would definitely be done for, and there’s also the chance that it still has more abilities we still haven’t seen. 

Moreover, even if we manage to corner it, there’s the chance of it escaping without us being able to defeat it. If it were to switch to escaping, we have no means to stop it. 

Oh well, even all of this is all hopeful speculation. 

“Alex, when did the reinforcements go up? Even if we are buying time here, I want to know how much time it would be.” (Hikaru)

“Reinforcements…? They came just now, right?” (Alex)

“No, that’s not it. Someone has to go and call the first half subjugation team…” (Hikaru)

Alex showed a dumbfounded expression at my question.

I felt my back growing cold. 

I think back to the time when the Demon Lord appeared until now. I told Alex and the others to call for help, but I didn’t ask them to go to the surface and call for the first half parties.

Or more like, I was told that the second half team moves in a way that they would call the first half team if a Demon Lord shows up, so I might have just jumped to conclusions here. 

Moreover, if a battle happened soon after they regrouped with other parties at the entrance of the 3rd Floor, they wouldn’t have the leeway to call for help. 

There’s no need to think about it anymore.

“So…no one has gone to call for reinforcements outside, right…?” (Hikaru)

“S-Sorry. We were desperate here, so I don’t think there’s anyone who has gone to do that.” (Alex)

“No, I am not blaming you here. My bad.” (Hikaru)

That means we need to have someone that can get through the 2nd Floor and 1st Floor to call for reinforcements. 

It is not like I am being overly conceited here, but I am sure the front would crumble if I were to leave this place. It would be the fastest if I were to go, but I can’t leave. 

“Alex, do you think it would be fine to ask those people to relay the message?” (Hikaru)

The party that regrouped just now. 

If they are silver rank, they should be able to get out from the 2nd Floor pretty fast with 2 or 3 people. 

“We are not going to fight together? It would be pretty dangerous with just us, you know?” (Alex)

“No, leaving things as they currently are would be worse. We don’t even have the means to attack a flying enemy. If we can get the Crimson Vials of the first half team, we should be able to wrap this up for sure.” (Hikaru)

The Crimson Vials is the mythril rank explorer party that’s led by the crimson haired Garnet-san. They also have an archer. Their strength is plainly on another level to begin with. 

“To return to the guild, gather people, and bring them all the way here…it would take around 2-3 hours at the very least.” (Hikaru)

“Can we endure…? For that long?” (Alex)

“If we are lucky, maybe you will get 1 Point, Alex. If that happens, you can buy a Barrier Stone, and we can somehow manage.” (Hikaru)

“I-I will be using a Point? You could get one too, right, Hikaru?” (Alex)

“No, I have done a Point Loan of 3, so I can’t do it.” (Hikaru)

“Seriously? Can’t be helped then.” (Alex)

Using a Barrier Stone is convenient, but that would mean the Demon Lord would lose its targets. 

When that happens, it might begin moving to the higher floors. Just as Crabbell said, having it go up floors would create even higher risks. 

I want us to stand ground here if possible.

“Then, I will go tell them.” (Alex)

“Yeah, tell them to be as fast as possible.” (Hikaru)

“Got it!” (Alex)

After Alex went off, I cast Darkness Fog and hid myself, and then opened the Status Board.

Thanks to the viewers going up to 1 billion, my Crystals have increased, but those numbers are half-transparent, and are unavailable for use.

Because of the Point Loan, not only Points, I can’t even use Crystals. 

It is 3:30 a.m. The first half party members must be fast asleep.

Even if we were to go call them now, there’s no knowing if they would immediately come to help…

“…Ah!” (Hikaru)

It was a coincidence that I noticed this, but it was something that was in the corner of my mind. 

—I was going to learn a new ability soon. 

My Shadow Bind that was in Tier 2 has increased to Tier 3.

・Casket of Darkness [Dark Coffin] Proficiency 0

Dark Coffin is the higher grade of Shadow Bind, and I can tell by feeling that it can’t be activated in midair, but this is a good development in a situation where we are in a stalemate as it is.

Alex spoke to the explorers, and it seems like they will be going back up with 4 people out of 8. 

The other 4 will be staying.

The remaining ones are 2 shield bearers and 2 ability users. 

The Demon Lord spits out fire at Alex and the others. 

Jojordan stopped it somehow with Water Screen, but the lunge after that is rough.

Rather than the fangs and the claws, it is more the mass crashing onto them that is turning into one powerful attack.

Even if our side is stronger than the average human, we can’t get out unscathed from a charge of a creature of that size. 

And the reality is that the warriors holding their shields up were blown away, unable to stand the hit. 

Fortunately, there’s no heavy injuries, but with things like this, we won’t even be able to buy time.

Even when we try to attack it once it comes down to the ground, it soon flies away. There’s currently no explorer here who can restrain this creature with an overall length of 5 meters. 

My Spirit Abilities are barely managing to stay effective, but the positioning and timing are difficult. 

“Damn it! This is just slowly turning to the worse! Hikaru, any ideas?” (Alex)

There’s agitation showing in the face of Alex. Without a decisive move, we humans get exhausted faster than monsters. 

“If only it lands close to me, I might be able to manage something, but not when it is flying. At the very least, we need an archer…” (Hikaru)

If we take away its choice of flying, the possibility of defeating it with the combo of Darkness Fog and Light appears.

Of course, it is not for certain since it has Chaotic Spirit Abilities, but we should be in quite the advantageous position in that scenario.

However, there’s no helping that we don’t have an archer. 

The 1st Floor has skeletons which aren’t suitable for archers. 

The 2nd Floor is a prison and there’s a lot of narrow rooms, so it isn’t suitable for bows. 

In the 3rd Floor there’s mist, so it turns into a close battle almost as soon as you encounter monsters.

The 4th Floor is the one with the highest compatibility with bows, but it is dark, and there’s a lot of cramped places, so it is not a place where you should force yourself to use one. 

And so, archers would be fighting mainly in the 5th Floor and lower. 

The 5th Floor has stairs going down in a spiral at the outer circumference of the cavity, so the bow apparently does quite a lot of work.

Also, the Crimson Vials actually have an archer. 

“Anyways, let’s wait until reinforcements arrive.” (Hikaru)

“Yeah. That thing is also being cautious here. It isn’t attacking as much, so that alone is a saving.” (Alex)

“We can only hope that the Demon Lord-sama doesn’t change its mind.” (Hikaru)

I have this conversation with Alex while keeping our attention on the Demon Lord flying and seeking a chance to attack. 

“U-Uhm…Hikaru…” (Rifreya)

At some point in time, Rifreya had come to my side.